This invention relates to an ink container holding device in a rotary printing machine.
In some of the rotary printing machines, in order to supply printing ink into the printing drum an ink pump is operated to suck printing ink out of a small ink container which is detachably set at a predetermined position.
In a rotary printing machine disclosed, for instance, by Japanese Utility Patent Application Laid-open No. Sho. 62-102666, an ink container accommodating device is provided in the printing machine body, and an ink container is set on a supporting stand of the ink container accommodating device. The ink discharge port of the ink container thus set is connected to or disconnected from the ink suction port of an ink pump built in the printing machine body by operating a cover which is provided for the printing machine body. More specifically, the ink discharge port is connected to the ink suction port by closing the cover, and the former is disconnected from the latter by opening the cover.
In the above-described conventional rotary printing machine, the ink container accommodating device is provided inside the printing machine body. Hence, even if the cover is opened wide, the operator cannot see the supporting stand, on which the ink container is set, without lowering his head. Therefore, when it is required to set or remove the ink container, he must take an uncomfortable posture bending himself to look in the ink container accommodating device, and therefore it is rather difficult for him to achieve the ink container setting or removing operation with high work efficiency. This difficulty is significant especially with a recent printing machine in which the operating panel is made large in size because the printing machine has multiple functions, and extends forwardly from the printing machine body.
Furthermore, in the above-described conventional rotary printing machine, it is impossible to detect the state of the ink container after the closure of the cover provided for the printing machine body. Therefore, the printing operation may be started although the ink container is not correctly set. If the printing operation is started in this way, then the supplying of the printing ink may be stopped, or the printing ink may leak out through the junction of the ink discharge port of the ink container and the ink suction port of the ink pump.